


Silent Hill: Cinder

by Anti_Mattering



Category: Silent Hill (Video Game Series)
Genre: Body Horror, Gen, Horrific death, Inspired by Silent Hill 2, original storyline
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2019-08-09 03:59:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 13,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16442561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anti_Mattering/pseuds/Anti_Mattering
Summary: A woman named Mona finds herself in the sleepy town of Silent Hill with no memory of how she got there. All she wants to do is go home.





	1. Welcome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mona has arrived in town.

She'd been walking for a while, right? For some reason, she couldn't actually remember. She had some vague recollection of driving into town, though where she would have parked was a mystery. Did she even drive herself? Did someone drop her off? Her father, maybe?

No, not him. That would be absurd. The fog in her brain was only surpassed – dwarfed, even – by the fog flowing through the streets. She could barely even see her hand in front of her face, let alone any dangerous cracks or potholes she might be stepping into while walking down the street.

Traffic safety didn't seem to be that much of an issue all things considered. Anyone driving in these conditions would have just as much of a chance of hitting her whether she was in the middle of the road or on the sidewalk. Not that there seemed to be anyone else around. From time to time, it was almost like she could make out figures in the fog darting around just out of view, but she chalked it up to nothing more than her imagination.

No cell service, either, the device serving as little more than a glorified flashlight trying fruitlessly to cut out a narrow path through the mist. That wasn't too surprising given how old this place seemed, but it was no less disconcerting. This entire town seemed more like a model of a town left out in the rain for too long. Like a relic from ancient times unearthed and put on display in a museum no one ever visited. Either way, it didn't seem happy, though why she thought she could personify a town of all things was a mystery.

She remembered a street sign from earlier that identified this place as Bachman Road. A cafe, a burger joint, what looked like a flower shop; all abandoned with nothing much of interest to be seen through the glass. Though she felt a bit hungry after considering it for a moment, it was doubtful these shops had anything on the menu.

As she approached the intersection to what she'd come to learn was Matheson Street, the fog appeared to lift, at least along that stretch of road. Unlike the brief shadows from before, she could absolutely make out the shape of a man in the distance. As he looked to be walking away, she ran to try and catch up, calling out to him. "Hey! Hello! Wait!"

Like one would expect in this situation, the man did not stop. In fact, he must have continued on at such a pace as to seemingly disappear the moment he passed out of her line of sight. Trying to chase after him seemed useless.

"You're new here," said a voice from behind, causing her to jump nearly bad enough to fling the glasses right off her face. Whether it was the man from before or not couldn't really be known given how far away an obscured her initial viewing was. "That's interesting."

He walked around leisurely several feet away, almost seeming to circle her like a shark. While he didn't really give off much of a dangerous vibe, it was still hard to trust someone who appeared so suddenly in a place that was otherwise abandoned. Dressed normally in a white t-shirt and short sleeved black jacket, hands shoved into the pockets of some old jeans, he was the most normal thing about any of this, somehow making him decidedly less normal in the end.

"Introduction?" he asked, pulling one hand out of his pocket and raising it as if to gesture for her to speak. Upon closer examination, she noticed rows upon rows of dark blue tattoos against his brown skin. They covered almost every inch of his fingers, hands, arms, and even up his neck and into his hairline, the only place devoid of ink being his face.

He circled his hand, causing her to realize she'd been blankly staring off into space considering all of this for far longer than a person should. Clearing her throat, she finally stuttered out, "Mona. Murakami." After a pause, she repeated, "Mona Murakami."

The stranger didn't seem to react to this, merely observing her as he continued to walk. For some reason, he didn't seem to really be looking at her so much as through her. What he intended to find wasn't clear, though. "And you?" she finally asked to try and break the ice.

He stayed silent for several second, eventually saying, "This place is old." Whether he was dodging the question or simply didn't hear it asked was yet another mystery.

"I assumed," she said. Several more tense seconds passed, the two doing a kind of dance where the stranger would continue to walk in a circle around her as she turned to continue facing him. It was almost dizzying with the fog obscuring any kind of buildings or landmarks that would tell her which direction she actually faced. "What's it called?"

"Silent Hill," he replied promptly, looking her in the eyes for the first time since they'd met. "It was a resort once," he continued. "Now it's not. It's all gone." Rather than saddened by this, he seemed to smile. "You should consider turning back."

"I don't remember how I got here," she told him. "Can you show me the way out?" Why she thought he'd be able to do that, she couldn't tell you, but as the only face (friendly or otherwise) she'd met in this place so far, it was worth a shot.

Instead of a reply, he chuckled as if he found the notion absurd. "I think we'll see each other again soon," he said, ignoring her question entirely. "I think it's about to get warmer," he added out of nowhere, running his hands through his short cropped black hair. Was he commenting on her clothes? She was wearing a brown leather jacket, sure, but it wasn't like it was inappropriate attire. Just a blue tank top and white shorts under that. If worst came to worst, she could leave it behind.

Why was she so focused on that comment and her outfit? So focused, in fact, she'd spaced out again. When she finally came to, the stranger was gone. Now she was alone again in the unfamiliar place called Silent Hill. She should start looking for an exit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more thing for Halloween since you've all been good. This one might actually be a bit scary.
> 
> End notes will be sparse on this since I don't want to break immersion. Same with comments assuming there are any, though I'd really like to encourage people to freely speculate on how things are going to turn out as you read. I'd like to see where you think things are going.
> 
> I have no clue going in how long this will be or when I'll post chapters. Stick around if you're invested in it.
> 
> Thanks for reading. Always remember you're not alone.


	2. Shelter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mona tries to find shelter.

Mona pressed on deeper into the fog. As she continued down the street, it suddenly started to become harder to see. Reaching to her face, she wiped a finger across her lenses, finding them to be covered in condensation.

Cleaning them off on her shirt, she placed her glasses back on her face. They began to fog again almost immediately, some sort of heatwave having descended upon the town without warning.

It wasn't just her glasses, though. Everything was starting to feel hot. Hot and constricting. None of her clothes felt like they were fitting right anymore, even her hair seeming to cling strangely to her head and neck.

The more she walked the worse it became, coming to a point where she began to try the door to every building she could find to take shelter from this heat. None opened for her, though, either being locked or simply broken. To make matters worse, she started to feel as if she was being watched, a distinct possibility given how thick the fog was.

Wandering without any real objective or understanding of where she went, she finally came upon something to break up the monotony of buildings and streets. It was a roadblock at the intersection between Bradbury and Bachman, blocking her advance down the road. She couldn't quite make it out through the fog, but it almost looked like there was a sudden drop off just beyond the police tape.

Either way, the signs marked "Turn Back" were enough of a reason as any to try a different path. Going to the left, she continued her strategy of trying to forcefully enter different buildings as a deep sense of dread began to take hold. Whatever may have been following her felt much closer now and she had nothing to defend herself with.

This thought alone was odd to her. She'd never been a violent person, so to immediately come to the idea of fighting whatever it might be in the fog was kind of a shock. For all she knew, it could simply be a lost dog. Even if it was a stranger, what guarantee was there it would be a dangerous one?

Logic did tend to break down when fear came into the mix, but pondering this could wait. Against all odds, she finally found a door that was open. Scrambling inside, she immediately closed herself inside and clicked the lock before moving away from the windows. She couldn't place why, but she felt like she had to stay out of sight.

That wouldn't be too hard inside what seemed to be a home goods store, trading the oppressive fog for almost pitch darkness. She couldn't quite decide which was worse, but it was at least a touch less hot now.

She retrieved her phone from her pocket, turning on the flashlight feature and placing it into the breast pocket of her jacket. Reluctantly, she also chose to zip up her garment to try and keep the beam of light from wobbling all around, deciding it would be more beneficial to see than to be cool.

Her hope now was to find some kind of light switch and maybe a landline. Even if she didn't know exactly where this place was, she could at least call for help. The police could certainly trace her call if they had to.

The dated look of all the appliances in the store matched the rest of the town, a thick layer of dust giving the impression that nothing had been moved around or bought here since at least the 90's. Only one thing seemed to challenge that, the "thing" in question being the smell of gas beginning to spread through the store.

Not wanting to suffocate and die, Mona tracked the scent to its origin. Among a row of several other ovens, there was a white one sat near the middle with its door slightly ajar. It didn't look to even be powered let alone attached to a gas line, but she couldn't exactly doubt what she saw right in front of her.

Her natural reaction was to try and find a way to turn off the gas, but what she actually did was plant her feet firmly and stare at the thing like it was diseased. Her mouth started to feel dry, her body refusing to respond as she willed herself to go closer.

With a great amount of effort, she managed to force her hand towards the appliance, shaking visibly as she did. Touching the cold metal stove top sent chills down her spine despite how hot she still felt. Slowly she began to go over the machine to look for a way to turn it off.

Finding what looked like the right switch, she tried turning it. The gas could still be heard spraying out. She tried again. No result. She tried again after that. Still, nothing happened.

Almost in a trance, she repeatedly switch the stove on and off, listening to the switch click as it moved back and forth. Evidently, something went wrong after a time, a much louder click acting as a prelude to a spray of flames that sent her tumbling backwards onto the floor.

Something had made a spark inside the oven that was no engulfed in deep red flames. Again, she would normally attempt to find something like a fire extinguisher or a sprinkler system to activate in this situation, but her body simply wouldn't respond.

Transfixed by the flames, she could do nothing as they began to spread to the rest of the units. She screamed at herself inside her head to move or run or do anything in response, but she couldn't listen. Something was keeping here there, whether it be a force of this horrible place she'd landed in or something inside her own mind.

Suddenly, the door to the first oven broke off, falling to the ground with a thud. Despite the flames, it looked as if something was moving inside the machine. Just as she realized this, what looked to be a scaly, charred human arm emerged from the open oven, gripping the side of the burning appliance. A second emerged after that, both working to pull whatever had been crammed inside out into the world.

Needless to say, the fire was now the least of her worries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally finished the second chapter. Not that anyone was really clamoring for it at this point, but maybe we can change that.
> 
> Thanks for reading. Tell your friends if you're enjoying. Always remember to turn your ovens off.


	3. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mona must fight for her life.

Whatever had been possessing Mona earlier seemed to finally release its grip, her first action being to run as fast as she could behind cover. Ducking behind a couch several feet away, she watched as the creature managed to free itself from its improbable prison.

Its skin was blackened and cracked like it had been burning in that fire for some time, though still surprisingly pliable given the sheet of flesh connecting from its shoulders to fully envelop its head that barely outlined its facial features. It seemed to struggle against this covering like it was trapped, frequently sucking in the area around its mouth while choking and gasping for air.

Dragging itself along the ground by its splintered, singed fingers, its lower body seemed almost paralyzed assuming it had ever been useful at all. In place of true legs were two charred, fleshy sacks that seemed to pulse and shake independent of the rest of its body, the most brittle and scaly bits of flesh on them making an uncomfortable scraping noise as it moved.

If this monstrosity was ever human to begin with, it certainly wasn't anymore. All she was certain of was that she needed to leave this place as fast as possible. Mona had nothing on her person that could reasonably approximate a weapon. Even if she did, she wasn't particularly strong and never could defend herself very well. Escape was her only option.

She wasn't sure how that thing was navigating its surroundings, but it seemed to move with some sort of purpose despite the random quivering and spasming it was doing. It seemed at least a bit safe to assume that purpose was finding her. What it intended to do when it caught her wasn't nearly as important as a desire to not be caught in the first place, though.

Biding her time from her hiding place, Mona watched as the creature dragged itself down an aisle away from her. Slowly, she crept away from the couch, clutching her phone as tightly as she could in her hand to avoid accidentally shining it somewhere that could give away her position or, as a last act of desperation, to use to defend herself.

She approached the door. Taking one last look to confirm that the monster was still traveling away from her, her hand moved to the lock. Biting down on her bottom lip and steadying her shaking hand, she turned it. Except it didn't move.

Growing more desperate by the second, she continued to try and unlock the door, her anxiety building with each failed attempt. In a fit of desperation, she began to shake it, realizing at the first clatter of metal on metal that this was a terrible mistake.

Hearing an ear-splitting shriek from the back of the store, she took off in a different direction as fast as her feet could carry her. Despite the considerable distance between the two of them, she could hear the monster clawing its way to her position as if it was right behind her, though she couldn't muster up the courage to look back.

Passing the fire as she ran, the smoke stung her eyes. It only took a moment of wiping away the tears that formed to send her hurtling into a display of several wooden chairs. Her phone clattered to the ground and slid into the darkness as she fell, the only light source left in the vicinity being the inferno behind her.

Trying her best to scramble to her feet, she ignored the pain and bruises forming on her body as she climbed out of pile. Running didn't seem to be an option any longer, though, as the creature had caught up to her during her crash.

As she looked back, Mona thought she might truly die here. It was a thought that had only occurred to her once before in her life years ago. Among the terror it produced, an equally strong desire to keep living also appeared, both becoming stronger the closer that thing got to her.

Her body was almost moving on instinct, her hand gripping a broken chair leg as she pulled herself to her feet. Grabbing it with both hands until her knuckles turned white, she stood before the creature as it rapidly approached her.

Despite her shaking, despite the fear, and despite her own weakness, she did the only thing she could think to do in that situation and swung her weapon. It cracked against the side of the monster's head with a loud thud, leaving the thing stunned for a full second.

Then she hit it again in nearly the same spot, some kind of white fluid beginning to leak from the gash she'd left.

Then she did it again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter full of new horrors. It's only going to get worse from here.
> 
> You be the judge on whether I'm talking about Mona's situation or the overall quality of writing.
> 
> Thanks for reading. Share if you're enjoying so far. Always remember to look where you're going.


	4. Survival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mona deals with having survived.

Despite having ceased moving several minutes ago, Mona continued to beat the monster's already flattened cranium into the concrete floor, the white fluid it used for blood splashing with each gruesome hit. She'd been so focused on making sure the thing stayed dead that she hadn't even realized she'd been screaming the entire time, only stopping after coming to her senses.

Backing away from the corpse, she felt like she was in another daze. This one was less like a guiding force moving her to where she was meant to be and more out of shock – shock at the fact something like this could exist and at the fact she'd murdered it with her own hands. Monster or not, she'd killed it. Death wasn't a foreign concept by this point in her life, but beating something to death with a piece of wood was entirely different from anything else.

Slowly, she collected herself, wiping her forehead with her sleeve and catching her breath, trembling the whole time. Collecting her phone from where it shown in the darkness, she slipped it back into her pocket before taking a seat near the fire. She refused to let go of the chair leg.

Another few minutes passed before she was able to slow her breathing, a combination of fear and adrenaline surging through her body and forcing her to become aware of every possible sound or movement in the building. Nothing else seemed to be there with her right now. She could always be wrong, though.

No sooner had she managed to catch her breath did she lose it again, coughing and fanning in front of her face as the smoke began to get to her. While the oven fire didn't seem to be spreading, it certainly wasn't burning down. She'd need to find a way out of this place soon before she passed out and asphyxiated.

Collecting herself, Mona began to move further into the store. Weapon clutched in her right hand, she took cautious steps away from the fire and into the dark unknown, jumping at anything that might be another of those creatures. Though her phone's light kept her from being entirely blind, it was far from perfect.

With a great deal of effort, she finally found her way into some sort of office. Papers were strewn about across the room, what looked to be faint bloodstains coating many of them. With any luck, whatever made them was already lying dead outside.

There didn't appear to be much of interest in the cramped space, though upon closer inspection, something small and shining caught her eye. It was a small pendant of sorts, a gold outer bezel holding what seemed to be a glass bauble. It looked to be a strange symbol of three circles enclosed inside a larger one, various cryptic runes and text strewn about within.

Though she had no reason to, Mona decided to pocket the thing. She had no idea what to expect in this place, so who knows what value it might hold down the line? Beyond this souvenir, though, nothing else of interest could be found here.

Exiting the office, she continued along the wall of the store in search of some kind of back door. Though it hadn't reached dangerous levels, it was quite clear the smoke was beginning to get a bit thicker. She couldn't afford to waste more time.

While a door didn't present itself, a hole most certainly did. Not to outside, but to the building next to this one. Taking a few cautious steps inward, Mona found herself inside a small shoe store. Similar to the previous location, things looked like they had been largely untouched for some time.

The thought of stealing a cute pair of shoes she saw on the wall tempted her for just a moment, but she ultimately had more important things to worry about right now. Trying the door, it was once again locked, though the view through the glass showed that the fog hadn't lifted whatsoever. If anything, it was much thicker now, though that might simply be the condensation that had collected from the humidity.

As she explored the store, she came upon a full length mirror near the middle of the room. Like most would, she took the chance to look herself over. Seeing herself covered in sweet, hair a mess, and the creature's white fluid coating the front of her jacket made all of this seem even more real than before.

Mona jumped back as the mirror suddenly cracked, a splintered line growing across her face's reflection. As it did, a loud storm siren began to play from somewhere outside, the store beginning to rumble and shake like it was caught in an earthquake.

The initial crack began to grow, the image in the mirror beginning to distort as the world around her started to fall apart. As shards of glass fell loose of their frame, it became clear that there was a path hidden behind them. It was less than inviting.

The siren grew louder the more of the mirror fell apart, blood beginning to drip down and obscure the view of the outside world through the windows and door while the shoes on display began to crumple and rot. A sickeningly warm, bleach-like stench beginning to fill the room, overpowering even the smoke to the point Mona thought she could vomit at any moment.

Finally, the sound stopped once the last piece of mirror broke against the floor, a small pathway having opened up into a distressingly bright corridor. Taking a few steps closer, she saw the cramped walls were seemingly constructed from rough stone, the floor being little more than flimsy metal fencing over an improbably raging fire.

While one would normally avoid such a deathly unsafe passageway as this, Mona didn't seem to have much of a choice. The door behind her was locked and, despite her earlier observation, the hole she'd entered through as well as the entire previous store was quickly being consumed with blindly white flames.

The stench from before and the heat of the flames made it impossible to stay put any longer. Against her better judgment, she made the decision to see where this path led. She didn't have to wait and see to know it wouldn't be anywhere good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That pendant will be important later.
> 
> I got the idea for it from someone on the wiki, actually, which is no longer a circumcision nightmare. You can use it for stuff again.
> 
> Thanks for reading. Share if you're enjoying. Always remember things can get worse.


	5. Remember

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mona tries and fails to remember.

Just as Mona had expected, this path was turning out to be far worse than she could have ever imagined. Almost as soon as she'd made her way into the pathway, the shop behind her was engulfed in flames, no doubt to block her retreat. While accusing fire of having some sort of plan or consciousness might seem insane to the average person, she'd long since begun questioning the merits of sanity or rational thought after setting foot into this awful town.

Though the stench had lessened a bit, the heat certainly hadn't. It was worse than ever now, almost like she was the one inside the oven from before given the roaring fire beneath her. Maybe she'd just "lost" whatever game this place was playing with her, doomed to be cooked alive. Maybe that's what happened to the thing she'd fought before.

Mercifully, the grating beneath her feet gave way to actual flooring. Though it was no less sweltering inside these confined spaces, she was at least out of the path of direct heat. Stepping out onto what seemed to cracked linoleum, she took the chance to look around, expecting yet more danger.

Strangely, that wasn't the case. This place seemed like a mostly normal if a bit rundown kitchen. After all the buildup with the Hell Tunnel, it was almost anticlimactic to see just your average refrigerator, dish washer, dripping sink, and wooden cabinets like you'd see in any old house.

Certainly tempted to let down her guard, Mona resisted that urge, knowing something bad was just around the corner. This was somewhat confirmed given the fact the pathway she'd arrived in was now entirely gone, a collection of faded pictures stuck to a dirty white wall that had formed behind her. If their seeming age didn't make them entirely indecipherable, the burned bits and what looked like scribbling with a black crayon most certainly did. The clearest of the bunch was in the very middle, showcasing what might have been a family of four with all of their faces drawn over with dark smudges and scratches.

A new sense of dread began to overtake her. Something about this place seemed familiar, but she couldn't be sure if that was because she'd actually been here in the past or it was simply the town playing tricks on her again. Either way, she forced herself to focus on that picture again, trying desperately to wring any scrap of detail she could out of it that might reveal the answer to this mystery or even what the mystery itself might be.

As she felt a pair of hands wraps around the back of her neck, her body did the opposite of what she figured a normal reaction would be and held back any noise. She flipped around, finding that no one was actually there. Almost immediately after that, a blob of some kind of white fluid fell from the ceiling, landing on her shoulder with a disgusting splat.

While the original hands may not have been real, these certainly were. Reaching down from the ceiling directly overhead was another monster, either attached to or coming through the floor above and stretching its charred body far beyond what should have been naturally possible. Its arms were similarly elongated, hands featuring a series of far more than ten thin, constantly moving fingers moving towards her neck. In place of a head, there seemed to be nothing more than a protruding mouth, constantly undulating and biting with its numerous teeth, the fluid from before running out like saliva.

Mona clubbed one of the creature's hands in a panic, at least one finger breaking under the strike. Not wanting to stand around and try to fight another of these things, she sprinted from the room as quickly as she could, emerging into a steel cage surrounded by a wall of flames instead of the more predictable living room or the like.

The floor was hard steel covered in rust (she hoped it was rust, at least), nothing but fire to be seen around her in the still relatively small octagonal arena. Beyond the bounds and over the sound of crackling fire, grinding metal interspersed with quiet cries and whimpers was audible, though from where it originated was anyone's guess; she had no clue where she was right now, let alone anything else.

Out of the darkness of the kitchen emerged the creature she'd just escaped from, somehow stretching itself all this way to pursue her and moving around erratically. It would have been far less awful if it had simply detached itself from the ceiling to drag itself like the other, its disgusting body making a horrid rubbing sound against its own skin as it slowly but surely came towards her in the air.

As scary as the thing was, it at least didn't seem to be much of a threat given the pace of its attack. But if it really wanted a fight, she'd give it one. Mona grabbed her makeshift weapon with both hands, pulling it back over her shoulder to ready it like a bat for when the monster got into range.

That was her first mistake.

Like a bolt of lightning, the thing's mouth shot out of its own skin. A pink, fleshy tube came toward her at an alarming speed, biting deep into the meat of her shoulder with its rows upon rows of pointed teeth. Letting out a scream from both the initial bite and the stinging of the fluids inside its mouth against her wounds, she clumsily beat the thing as best she could to try and get it to let her go.

That was her second mistake.

Making little progress at clubbing the midsection of the mouth, Mona was too preoccupied to notice the rest of the thing catching up to her. Only when it was mere inches from her did she finally see its hands reach out for her neck. Its grip was like a vice, bearing down on her with the comparative force of an adult strangling a child and cutting off even her ability to scream.

It began to lift her into the air, her legs kicking wildly as she was pulled off the ground in a desperate attempt to do  _something_  against this monster. Beating it across its body, she could feel herself beginning to lose consciousness as its fingers wrapped tighter and tighter around her throat.

In a last ditch attempt to free herself, Mona shoved the chair leg as hard as she could into the small amount of separation between the thing's skin and the fleshy mouth embedded into her shoulder. Letting out a scream, the monster's teeth finally came loose from her shoulder, the creature nearly flinging her into the fire pouring through the metal boundary at the edge of the area.

Doing her best to catch her breath close to the ground, she started to think about what she'd just learned. This one seemingly had skin too thick to hurt through conventional means, though fingers were fair game given how thin and fragile they seemed. The inside of its body was apparently its weak point, though, so that's what she had to aim for.

The monster began its slow pursuit once more as Mona scrambled to her feet, trying to move around the side of the arena to better control when she'd have to attack. Her hops of possibly retreating back to the kitchen were dashed, as was the possibility of using her superior maneuverability to get around. The reason behind why this thing had been moving in anything but a straight line was now clear, the stretched portion of its body having become an immovable barrier as it continually filled space.

Worst of all, she'd just purposefully run herself into a corner. With the monster closing in and the amount of space she had left rapidly decreasing, there was nothing left to do but fight. Watching the thing intently, she held up her weapon in straight out in front of her to be ready. Given how little room she had to move anymore, this was probably her only chance at this.

Seconds ticked by with painful slowness as the abomination grew closer and closer. Just as before, its mouth was the first thing to come at her. She was ready this time, letting her body react on instinct and aim the length of wood in her hands directly in the mouth of the chomping jaws.

Scoring a direct hit, the thing's protrusion tried to recoil as the chair leg was forced almost the entire way down its throat due to its own haste. The choking sounds it made were uncannily human, but Mona couldn't let that stop her from doing what had to be done.

As the body began to catch up to its mouth, she continue to force the weapon down its throat. Whatever had...constructed this beast had obviously not intended for it to be able to move in reverse, as it still tried to continue forward in the hopes of either removing the obstruction from its mouth or to kill its enemy.

Mona wasn't going to let that either of those things happen, though, twisting the rod in her hands and watch as more of the white fluid began to spray out like blood. The body's hands tried to stop her from doing any further damage, clawing at her jacket hard enough to tear the leather and cutting through the skin on her legs like razors, breaking many of its own fingers in the process with its urgency.

She ignored the pain and the fear and the heat and just kept going. With all her strength, she managed to force the chair leg the entire way into the creature's mouth, fluids puking from its mouth as it began to convulse. A final seize was all it had left inside it before the totality of its body went limp, its expansive midsection falling to the ground in a pile.

For a few seconds, everything was still. Even the fire hung eerily motionless in the room around her, all sound having ceased, as well. Then, from out of nowhere, Mona began to experience a splitting headache, the sound of a siren blaring in the background. As she crumpled to her knees in pain, her vision faded to red.

When she finally awoke, she found herself in a dirty, cramped bathroom, unsure of how she'd gotten there or what became of the place before. This was starting to become a rather normal sensation, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Otherworld is not a friendly place, especially when a boss shows up. So much for a no damage run.
> 
> Thanks for reading. Share if you're enjoying. Always remember to search everything, including your memories.


	6. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mona tries to recover from the journey so far.

Seated on top of the toilet lid, Mona was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. Though she couldn't exactly relax especially after the loss of her only weapon, this place seemed to be at least a bit less immediately life threatening.

As the adrenaline began to wear off, the full brunt of exhaustion and pain started to set in. Despite this, she was smart enough to realize that walking around with a bunch of open wounds was probably a bad idea. Looking around the tiny space, about the only thing she could find to help her clean up was a mostly full roll of toilet paper hanging across from her.

A bit dusty but otherwise looking more or less sanitary, she wiped off some of the blood from her legs and pressed a wad of it against some of her cuts until they stopped actively bleeding. The more pressing matter would be her shoulder, though, given how deep the wound was.

She pulled off one arm of her jacket before gingerly sliding it down the other, using some of the toilet paper to clean off the mirror above the sink as best she could to take a look at things. Almost her entire arm was coated bright red, bite marks evident in the mangled flesh. Poking at it like a fool, she winced at even the slightest contact.

Twisting the handle, the pipes groaned a bit before sputtering out a few blasts of water, then settling into a slow stream. She let it run for a few second, noting that there wasn't any kind of odor and the water itself seemed clear enough. Splashing her hand through it, she concluded it seemed safe enough to use, wetting some of the paper to wipe off some of the blood.

Though her arm remained a bit rusty in color, she was at least in a bit better shape than before as slow as this whole process was taking. She searched the few drawers she could find below the sink, but the only thing of note was an old toothbrush she figured might be worth keeping. As such, her only real option to deal with her wounds right now was to fold up as many sheets of toilet paper as she could and slide them under the strap of her top, hoping they could at least slow the flow of blood before she passed out or got some kind of infection.

Noticing a bottle of hand soap beside the sink, she remembered something she'd seen in a video once. Squirting a dollop of soap onto some more toilet paper, she removed her glasses and rubbed it all over her lenses, leaving them to dry on top of the toilet as she cleaned some of the dried residue of whatever those creatures used for blood off her jacket. After a few minutes, she buffed the soap from her lenses before restoring her ability to see.

Though she was far from ready, she couldn't spend much more time in here. If something decided to attack her while in these cramped quarters while she had nothing to defend herself, that would certainly be the end of her.

Shoulder still aching, she opened the door to the bathroom, finding herself emerging onto the streets of Silent Hill once more. How that was possible wasn't exactly clear, but she'd learned to stop asking those kinds of questions. The good news was that her glasses trick seemed to be working, her glasses finally staying clear despite the humidity swirling around her.

Who would be waiting for her except for the man she met when first entering town. Now far less patient, she stomped over to him and demanded answers. "What's going on here?" she asked, not daring to take her eyes off him in case he pulled another disappearing act like last time.

Instead of a real reply, the man just smiled. "I'm surprised you made it," he said after a few moments, attempting to walk around her in circles only to be continually cut off by Mona not wanting to put up with his nonsense a second time. "Do you think it's working?"

"Stop talking like that!" she demanded. "I don't know what's happening. What are those things that keep trying to kill me? What's wrong with this town? Why won't you just give me answers?"

Everything she said seemed to amuse the man, a fact that only made her more upset. "You'll figure it out eventually. But I guess you've earned something." Without any warning, he reached behind him and pulled out a pistol, Mona stepping back fearfully. Spinning it in his hand to grab it by the barrel, he held it out to her. "You can probably find something like this in another place, but I'll just give it to you now."

She'd never even seen a gun before let alone held one. Even so, the utility of something like this couldn't be ignored in this place. Reluctantly, she took the weapon from him and looked it over to pretend like she knew what she was doing. Unsure of what to do with it after that, she continued to hold it in her right hand.

"I don't think I'll help you again," he told her, the mist growing thicker as he said this. "You're on your own from here on out."

"Wait!" she called out as he began to walk backwards, almost seeming to evaporate into the fog. "Who are you?" There was no response, the man having escaped just as quickly as he came in. Despite this, she felt like she somehow knew the answer, a name appearing in her head just a clearly as if he'd told her after all – Sable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A fast update since I felt like getting things going again. Mona's probably in need of a health drink.
> 
> Thanks for reading. Share if you're enjoying so far. Always remember to practice trigger discipline.


	7. Medical

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mona goes to the hospital.

Mona found herself in a bit of a predicament.

After her brief meeting with Sable, she'd gone wandering down what she managed to identify as Simmons Street. Though she wasn't aware of it, her exit from the bathroom had seemingly placed her into a totally different area of the town. Regardless, she had come to a point of acceptance for these kinds of things by now and wouldn't have really cared. Hardly a predicament or even an annoyance.

No, her predicament was the two creatures chasing her. They appeared to be similar to if not the same as the first she'd encountered. Foolishly, she'd already blasted through all ten bullets stored in her gun's magazine, missing with seven of them and only managing to strike glancing blows with the other three. Neither of her pursuers seemed too discouraged by that; if anything, the fact she now had nothing to defend herself with almost seemed to embolden them to move faster.

She hung a right down Koontz Street, still gripping her shoulder from the pain. In hindsight, that probably threw off her aim even worse than her inexperience, but there was no time to consider that kind of stuff now.

Sprinting down the street, she skidded to a halt after spotting a large building with a seemingly open courtyard. The sign outside declared that it was Alchemilla Hospital. Immediately, she ran towards it, figuring it to be both the perfect place to lose the monsters as well as hopefully find some medical supplies to better treat her wounds.

She moved through a gap in a metal fence, closing it behind her. There wasn't any lock (at least not one she could find in her panic), but a heavy barrier like this would at least slow them down, she hoped. More importantly, she had to find her way inside the hospital. At least in there she'd be out of sight.

Looking around the courtyard, things were still just as empty and desolate as the rest of the town appeared prior to the monsters. There was the possibility that this area might have been quite lovely at one point, but given that all the grass and even the trees here had apparently been burnt down to nothing, that point certainly wasn't now.

Finding the door, the stench of something burnt escaped into the outside. Mona held back of a cough, eyes watering as she crept inside and closed herself in. The atmosphere was musty and thick, whatever had apparently been set on fire in here never being allowed to air out prior to that very moment. Beyond that was the general chemical scent of hospital things, bleach featuring most prominent among the unpleasant odors.

Though rundown, this place at least seemed to be a normal building. The tiled floor was cracked and grimy to match the peeling paint and general disrepair of the rest of the waiting room. The remains of posters still hung on the walls above some damaged couches, their images long since faded and stained with smoky residue.

Rounding the corner, she started to notice just how loudly her footsteps echoed through the vacant halls. It was to be expected, but even so these seemed abnormally and uncomfortably loud, almost as if this place wanted to drive home just how truly alone she was here. At least for now.

The smell or scorch still hung heavy in the air, though it did seem to grow thicker as she continued forward. While following it might be her only option for advancing, her main concern was to find medical supplies.

Trying the first door she came across, it miraculously opened. Though the indicator had long since been broken off, it revealed itself to be some kind of examination room, complete with two bed frames where patients likely once rested. Whoever had once occupied those beds likely wasn't in good condition judging by the remnants of a veritable pool of blood near the center of the room, though.

Given the blood had long since dried, it was unlikely whatever happened here was recent. This emboldened Mona to thoroughly search the room top to bottom. Almost as a cruel joke, she found a single bullet tucked away in a cabinet. Cruel or not, she still needed it, clumsily popping it into her gun's magazine as quick as she could.

Through another door in the same room, she found a cramped little room with barren shelves and a single desk. Uncomfortably, the desk lamp was still lit. Checking through the shelves, she found a single bottle of pain pills. Ripping off the top, she found a pitiful one tablet waiting for her, the sadism of this place seemingly knowing no bounds.

Regardless, she dropped it into her mouth and chewed it to pieces before swallowing. Whether it would do any good or not, it was better than doing absolutely nothing to help the gaping wound on her shoulder.

What caught her eye after that was the desk. Sitting in the beam of light was a yellowed newspaper page. Approaching it to examine more closely, it was a story about some kind of house fire. A family of four was caught in an inferno, only the youngest child surviving and currently (relative to whenever this report was written) recovering in the hospital.

Just like the pictures from before, Mona had the distinct feeling she remembered this. Why did she remember it, though? More importantly, this didn't seem to have anything to do with Silent Hill, so why was this paper here in the first place? It was far too convenient for someone from who knows how long ago to have left this here just in time for her to find it.

Her head began to ache, feeling her own heartbeat behind her eyes as a dull thudding inside her skull. The stench of burning was growing stronger, too, though there wasn't any smoke or other indications a fire had been lit.

Leaving through a door inside the room, her head immediately snapped in the direction of the smell. It was almost overpowering now, but that didn't seem to matter. For some reason, she just continued down the hallway until finding a set of stairs leading to the basement. She was determined to find out what was causing this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally finished. Following the layout of Alchemilla and making sure I got the details right by retracing the rooms through Silent Hill 1 was a lot of work. Certainly more than just going down streets.
> 
> Thanks for reading. Share if you're enjoying. Always remember to aim when you shoot.


	8. Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mona investigates the smell.

Each step downward left Mona feeling more and more uneasy, the burning smell growing stronger the closer she got to the basement. Opening up a heavy metal door, a rush of dark, smoky air hit her, causing her to choke. Even so, she continued forward.

It was hard to tell whether she was simply hearing her own heartbeat in her ears or if this gloomy space seemed to pulse with a life of its own. Turning to the right, she moved to the door opposite an out of order elevator and gripped the doorknob. Judging by the strength of the smell, this is where it was coming from.

Her hand shaking, she began to turn the knob, stopping at the last second when she spotted something on the ground out of the corner of her eye. To her surprise and, frankly, confusion, it was a red box of ammunition fit for her gun. Looking inside, there were only four bullets, but she couldn't really afford to be disappointed right now.

After clumsily reloading the magazine, she steeled her nerves and headed inside the room. The stench was almost overpowering at this point, barely making out the room through her watering eyes. It appeared to be a morgue, though there had apparently been some sort of fire given the soot coating the walls and ceiling in a thick black layer of filth.

The only exception to this seemed to be an empty body bag at the back of the room and three cold lockers side by side. Even just looking at them made her stomach turn. She had no idea why that was, but there was a very real possibility it would make her vomit if the smell didn't get to her first.

Either way, those lockers seemed to be what she was meant to look at, so the only way to advance was to forge ahead. The sooner she opened them up, the sooner she'd be able to get out of here. She'd be able to go back to searching for anything usable upstairs in peace.

Taking a few steps closer to the lockers, she felt herself dry heave, holding a hand over her mouth. Collecting herself, she continued ahead despite the dryness in her mouth and the pain in the pit of her gut. She had to see whatever was inside.

To her annoyance, she found that all three locker doors were locked. Figuring she'd have to go on a fruitless scavenger hunt throughout this place to find the keys, she did a quick turn around of the room, nothing useful to be found. She then had a positively ridiculous idea, pulling the toothbrush she'd grabbed from the bathroom out of her pocket and jamming it into one of the locks.

In an absolutely stunning display of unreality, it actually fit. Not simply crammed in there like one would expect, but as if the locker itself had been designed with the intention of opening with the plastic end of a toothbrush. Turning the brush in hand, she felt the door unlock, doing the same to the other two with a growing level of amazement and incredulity each time.

Returning the unexpectedly useful item to her pocket, she braced herself for whatever might be lurking within. Opening them one after the other, the only things inside where three body bags zipped tight, evidently with a single occupant each. Not that surprising, honestly.

Once the thought of unzipping one of them came into her head, though, everything started to go wrong. Without warning, she began to hyperventilate, stumbling backwards with her hands clasped tightly over her mouth and tears beginning to fall from her eyes. She was in no place to ask why she was having this reaction, though she wouldn't really have a good answer even if she was.

At the same time, she could hear the siren going off once more. Every locker in the room began to jostle and shake, the turning from a scorched black to a brown rust, smoke and flame beginning to escape from around their edges. The tiles along the floor began to crack, as well, each break pulsing red like blood running from cuts in the skin.

And then there was the empty body bag. It didn't seem to be so empty anymore, though. Its occupant – a strange, stark white creature that vaguely resembled the twisted visage of a little girl – rose from its position laying flat on the ground. A shrill scream escaped the vacant, black hole where its mouth would be, the creature bursting into flames a moment later and beginning to advance on Mona.

Scrambling to her feet, Mona tried the door. It was shut tight but with just enough give to make her think that maybe she could force it open. As the already unbearable heat continued to grow hotter as that thing came closer, she rammed the door with her good shoulder, just barely managing to break the mortise and fall through barely a second before the creature could touch her.

She tried to run for the door to upstairs but it was also closed, this one feeling a tad more secure than the last one. Though there were other doors in this area, she couldn't waste time trying to find one with the burning, screaming monster coming after her. Even if she did manage to get one of them open, it probably just led to a dead end.

All she could do was try to fight. Running as far as she could down the hall, the metal fencing that appeared under her feet flexing and bending precariously like it was threatening to drop her into the endless sea of flames burning beneath her, she drew her gun and focused it on the monster. It was easy enough to get a bead on it given the flames burning around its body acted like a huge, flashing target.

That didn't make it any easier to pull the trigger, though. Dangerous as it was, it still looked a lot like a child. A child that wailed and screamed, coming towards her in what almost looked like an attempt to find comfort. In the end, though, she had to survive.

Steadying her hands as much as possible, she fired a single shot toward the monster, striking it in the side of the face. Though it stumbled a bit, it didn't stop moving, the sounds it made now resembling something like crying. Appropriate given tears had long since begun streaming down Mona's face.

She fired once more, this time hitting it in the hand. The fingerless clump was blown off at the wrist, though this did little to actually stop it. It was around this point that she realized simply shooting without a plan wouldn't work, as she'd most definitely run out of bullets long before she could put that thing down for good.

Then she looked up. While the ceiling pulsed with red similar to the cracks in the floor before, at least one aspect of the old hospital had stayed in this alternate world – the sprinkler system. Though it didn't seem to be doing its job all that well right now, she could only hope that there was still something running through the pipes overhead.

Taking aim, she squeezed the trigger while ignoring the pain she felt moving her arm up at that angle. It struck the side of one of the sprinkler heads, though this didn't seem to work. With one bullet left, she tried again, watching the tiny bit of metal soar through the air as if it was in slow motion.

It was almost like she'd just witnessed a miracle occur right before her eyes. The bullet hit its target, breaking open the pipe right as the monster passed beneath it and raining blood down on top of it. It screamed and squealed as the fluid began to extinguish its flames, evidently causing it a great deal of pain.

Gun still held tightly between her hands, Mona slumped down against the wall, stress evaporating from her body. She may not be safe, but at least she overcame this hurdle. Any second now, that thing would fall to the ground and she'd be taken back to the world of fog and steam to continue her search.

But it didn't fall. It just stood there screaming as the blood continued to pour onto it. And then the blood stopped pouring once the pipe ran dry, leaving the creature still very much alive.

Though it remained stoic for a few seconds, it wasn't long before the screaming began again accompanied by the sound of hissing, boiling liquid. Seconds later, the creature burst into flames once more, continuing its walk towards Mona with what seemed to be even greater heat than before.

She wasted too much time just sitting there, she realized that now. Maybe if she'd taken the chance to attack it or look for another weapon she could have capitalized on her gamble, but she'd allowed herself to think she was in control. She was never in control here.

Her body refused to get up now, paralyzed with fear and weak from exertion and blood loss. Watching helplessly as the thing got closer and closer, she felt her skin begin to burn. It was like placing her face directly over a campfire and being pushed toward the flames against her will, some kind of cruel joke that was inevitably going to go wrong sooner rather than later.

"Sooner" came moments later as the monster was finally upon her. Mere inches from her body, she felt the hairs on her arms and legs begin to combust from simple proximity, fruitlessly shielding her face and body from the thing as it wailed in front of her. Next were her clothes, easily setting her the hair on her head ablaze at the same time.

As she screamed, she couldn't help but notice that the two of them almost sounded alike now. This thought was fleeting, though, as it was quickly overtaken by indescribable fear and pain once the fluid inside her eyes began to boil and her tongue blistered and melted inside her mouth.

Fully on top of her now, she couldn't even make a sound as the thing began to force its way inside her mouth and down her throat, seemingly contorting its burning body in impossible and unnatural ways to fit inside. What it hoped to accomplish by doing this was unclear as Mona was long since dead by the time it reached its goal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's been a lot of fire in this place. I wonder what it could mean.
> 
> Things didn't turn out so good for Mona this chapter. I wonder where we go from here. She was pretty close to figuring something out, too.
> 
> That's all for now. Thanks for reading. Share if you're enjoying. Always remember to check your sprinklers.


	9. Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story continues.

Mona awoke on a bench somewhere in the fog-covered streets of Silent Hill. Her hands immediately felt herself all over, memories of her immolation, asphyxiation, and numerous other injuries flooding back like the remnants of a nightmare she'd been shocked out of. Yet somehow she found herself to be perfectly fine.

While one's first instinct would be to assume they simply fell asleep somewhere and dreamed the events that led here, Mona had learned well not to fall into that kind of thinking by now. Besides, her empty gun and fog-less glasses were proof enough that whatever had happened to her was real. Real enough to have killed her, at least.

How she managed to survive was a mystery up until she felt something sharp in her pocket. Pulling out three pieces of the small trinket she'd picked up earlier, she noted how the symbol on its front had vanished. Though she couldn't even begin to explain it, she had to assume that it was somehow related to her miraculous escape.

Dropping the spent object's bits next to her, she sighed and placed her head in her hands. What was she going to do now? Would she have to go back to the hospital and fight that thing again? Where even was the hospital? Nothing in this area looked familiar. Even if she could find her way back, was she meant to get into a fist fight with a monster?

It was almost enough to make her cry, and if she wasn't afraid that might attract more of those creatures towards her, she just might have right there in the street. Whether she cried or not, though, she was no closer to figuring out why she was here or what this place wanted from her.

As she sat in despair, she caught a glimpse of something next to her feet. Initially pulling her legs up onto the bench in a panic thinking it to be a monster, closer examination revealed it was just a small brown package. Giving it a poke, it didn't seem to be immediately harmful. Still, that raised the question of where it had come from. Judging by the markings on the side facing up, it traveled through the postage system, but what kind of mailman would deliver to a place like this?

Putting aside this question for later, she placed the box next to her on the bench, slowly untying some twine around the outside. Tearing through the paper, she opened the box itself and found a collection of oddly familiar objects inside. She didn't particularly want to touch any of them given the thick layer of soot and char on their outsides, but she observed what looked like a rabbit doll, an empty picture frame, and a pair of essential oil bottles. Tansy and pennyroyal is what they appeared to be, but it was hard to decipher with the labels so burned and scarred.

While trying to decipher the meaning behind this box of junk, shaking it revealed a dirtied, folded piece of paper at the bottom. Doing her best to avoid touching as much of the burned things as possible, she lifted the paper out of the box with her fingertips and shook it open, knocking off as much of the blackened chips that had fallen onto it as possible.

Scrawled in bright red letters were the words, "It's all your fault." She didn't have the faintest idea as to what this could mean yet believed it immediately. If she tried to question that belief, she'd simply find herself facing a wall of her own creation that asserted without a doubt that she was the one at fault for all of this. Did that mean she deserved to be in this place? Maybe it would have been best if that thing had killed her before, though she doubted the town would have let her go that easily.

Tossing the note back into the box, she left it be and decided to take a walk. She seemed to be on Bradbury Street for what good knowing the names of places would do her. Walking east, she saw a variety of storefronts, windows fogged over and obscuring what might be inside. She didn't bother to try the doors, assuming they were either broken or that whatever was inside was probably not something she wanted to meet.

Next to one of these buildings was where she found another box of five bullets. Rather than relief, all she felt at this was more despair and exhaustion. If she was being armed, it probably meant something would be coming to kill her. Giving her just five bullets to deal with it was a cruel joke at best. She'd still take them, obviously, but the prospect of escaping Silent Hill seemed more and more far fetched the longer it toyed with her.

When it came time to turn north on Ellroy Street, Mona simply took a seat in front of a garage nearby. Hugging her knees to her chest, she took another moment to collect herself. Hunger, thirst, exhaustion, and fear weighed on her like a suit made of lead. The basic instinct for survival was quickly fading inside her, so oppressive was the atmosphere in this place both figuratively and literally.

What was the point of continuing on? To fight more monsters? To be assigned more blame for things she didn't remember or understand? To have more people talk to her without making sense? To die and come back just to do it all over again? If that's all she had to look forward to, maybe the only thing she needed to find was one bullet after all.

Like she'd thought before, though, Silent Hill wouldn't let her go that easily. She had to play its game whether she liked it or not. With no other options, she forced herself back to her feet to continue her journey with no destination in mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's stressful when you have to face everything you've wanted to forget for so long. Even more stressful when you still don't want to let yourself remember it in the first place.
> 
> Limited saves are terrible in a video game, but they work pretty well for our purposes here. If you're a developer, though, please don't ever do this to your players. We hate you.
> 
> Thanks for reading. Share if you're enjoying. Always remember to save often.


	10. Quench

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mona finally gets a drink.

Mona had already used four of her five new bullets taking out a monster since returning from the brink of her crisis. It was the same kind she'd encountered in the store from before, going down without much of a fuss despite the costly use of ammunition. On the plus side, she managed to finish the encounter without being injured save for a small bit of strain on her ankle from kicking it as much as she did once it was down.

The fact she only had a single bullet left brought back thoughts of suicide. Even so, she couldn't allow herself to indulge in that kind of pessimism again so quickly, forcing herself onward into whatever new nightmare awaited her. Nightmare or not, though, she was getting nowhere fast if she didn't have an idea of what she needed to do.

Odd as it was, maybe the monster from before was meant to corral her towards where the town wanted her to be next like when a team of them forced her into the hospital. Would being able to kill it the way she did mean she actually pulled one over on Silent Hill? No, that seemed impossible. That fleeting moment of optimism did her soul some good, though.

And then she saw him. "Sable!" she yelled, running as fast as she could to catch up to the elusive man before he could pull another disappearing act. Thankfully, he didn't try to escape, turning to face her with an almost smug smile as she approached, expression unchanging even after she pulled her gun on him.

"You look tired," he said as if he wasn't staring down the barrel of a loaded pistol.

"Tell me what's happening here right now," she demanded, trying to keep her hands steady. Though she hadn't killed anything reasonably human since getting to this place, she knew that she could if push came to shove.

"Here and now, you're pointing a gun at me for some reason," he said. "I don't know why you're doing that. It won't hurt me."

"You want to test that theory?" she said, voice quivering a bit.

This seemed to amuse him if the chuckle escaping his lips was in any way genuine. "There's no reason to waste your resources on me," he told her. "Come on, let me show you something." He held out his hand towards her.

Mona took a step back, keeping her gun focused on him. "What do you-"

"Take my hand," he told her. "So you can walk where I do." Though it took her a few moments of consideration, Mona did eventually do as he asked, something Sable seemed pleased about. Completely unafraid of the fact he was turning his back to someone who still had a will and means to kill him, he led her towards one of the buildings along the side of the road.

Opening the wooden door (already a strange design choice for what should be a place of business), he pulled her through into a dingy, broken apartment, the door shutting behind them before Mona could even check to see where it led after that. "Here we are," he said. "The Hillside Apartments have seen better days, but they're a home."

This description seemed like an understatement given the massive hole leading to the outside, part of the wall having entirely fallen out overlooking the street below. The rest of the room didn't seem to be in much better shape with scuffed, broken floorboards, peeling green wallpaper adorned with tacky yellow flowers, and a bed that looked to be in desperate need of a change of sheets.

What really caught Mona's eye, though, was the disgusting refrigerator, something green growing on the front of what was likely meant to be a white paint job once upon a time. This did little to stop her from flinging open the door, grabbing the first bottle of water she could find and immediately drinking all of it.

"It's safe enough," Sable said, though it was unlikely she even heard him. "When you're done here, you should probably take a look around. I think this is where you want to be."

Midway through another bottle, she paused in drinking to swallow, then asked, "How do you know?"

"I've got a way of...reading this place," he replied, predictably giving an answer that made no real sense. "Like I know what the town wants sometimes."

"You control this place?"

He laughed. "No, of course not. No one can control Silent Hill. Plenty have tried, but they're all dead now. I'm just along for the ride. I'm entertaining for it, I think." While it certainly seemed like the town could be sentient, Sable was now fully anthropomorphizing a collection of buildings. "Course, the fun ends if it ever gets tired of me. But I just have to make sure that doesn't happen."

"Am I part of that fun?" Mona asked, gripping her gun a bit more tightly.

"I didn't bring you here if that's what you really mean," he told her. "But, in a way, that's why I helped you before. It wouldn't be fun if you couldn't defend yourself." Sable cracked his neck, walking to stand at the edge of a hole leading outside, seemingly unconcerned with the prospect of a three floor fall to the asphalt below. "Anyway, I think I've done enough. I'll be watching, as always."

"Wait, where are-" Before Mona could even finish her sentence, Sable had already fallen backwards out of the room and seemingly to his death. Running over to the side, she stuck to the wall and looked out, straining to see through the fog to try and make out a body at the base of the apartments. While she couldn't know for certain until getting outside, her instincts told her he'd be back sooner or later.

Once again, Mona was now all by herself in Silent Hill. Still unable to understand why she was here, Sable's true intentions, or how those two things fit together, the only path that remained was forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like Sable decided to be helpful again. I wonder if that's going to work out well in the long run.
> 
> These people teleport too much. Sometimes I wonder why I bother tracking them across the actual map of Silent Hill. At least that probably won't be an issue for a little while again.
> 
> That's all we have for now. Thanks for reading. Share if you're enjoying. Always remember to drink questionable water you find in unmarked bottles.


	11. Downward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mona explores the apartments.

After Sable's disappearance, Mona was left on her own to explore the ruined apartments. Hardly something to look forward to, but she'd long since accepted that it was the only way she'd have a hope of getting out of here. For now, she just had to survive, her main priority being to try and find any useful supplies or weaponry.

Every square inch of the place looked as if it could collapse at any second, the constant sounds of shifting wood and shuffling feet both below and somehow above giving the distinct impression she wasn't alone here. She forced herself pretend that whatever else was living here hadn't noticed her for the time being, figuring it was at least slightly preferable to the idea that she was already being stalked through the narrow, rotting hallways. While there was little peace of mind to be found in Silent Hill, this was as close a substitute as she had.

Her search through the top floor was slow, cautiously trying each door she came across to find it locked, broken, or jammed. It was almost comical just how many of those she'd encountered since entering the town. She suspected that this wasn't just a coincidence, that maybe it was the nightmare guiding her to where it wanted her to go, especially when considered alongside the fact that parts of the building had completely collapsed to limit her path even further.

The only door she could find that would open was located at the end of a moldy corridor next to a broken window. With gun at the ready, she moved into the room slowly, almost jumping back upon seeing the charred corpse hunched over in a splintered kitchen chair directly across from her.

While nothing in the room could be said to be in pristine condition, none of it appeared burned. Did that mean someone had moved this body to this position after the fact? Why would they do that? Then again, there wasn't a clear purpose to much of anything in Silent Hill, so it was at least as plausible as any other explanation.

In the figure's hands was a gun not too dissimilar from her own, clutched between them as if at the ready. Though she doubted it was loaded, the thought of taking it did tempt her despite the obvious apprehension she felt at taking things off a corpse. Especially one that looked so human.

Her approach was slow, Mona nearly tiptoeing towards the body as if she was afraid it might wake up from any noise she made. The closer she got, the more the smell of charred flesh hit her. Holding back a gag, she made it within reach of the weapon, hesitant to grab it.

Slowly but surely, she was forced to overcome these feelings. Almost as if to punish her for it, the corpse actually did jerk to life, raising the weapon towards her with the intent to fire. She'd begun to expect things like this, though, using her last bullet to reflexively shoot through the side of the thing's head and send it falling to the ground.

Mona dropped her gun and backed a few steps away in horror. Though it was certainly startling for the thing to attack her like that, she was more surprised at her own quick reaction. When did she become so comfortable with killing, especially when it was something that looked so human?

The thing convulsed on the ground, burnt flesh crackling as it rolled around and clawed at the air. Just to be safe, Mona grabbed the chair it had been sitting on and smashed it over its head, only needing one strike to put it to rest. It was probably for the better, she thought.

Inspecting the gun after taking it from the ground, she found that it was loaded with a full magazine of nine bullets. Keeping it in her hand, she shoved her previous weapon into her pocket. If she found more ammunition, being able to switch between the two in the midst of an attack would likely save her life at some point.

Beyond this, though, there didn't seem to be much else of interest in the room. Similar to Sable's hangout, the place was in extreme disrepair with dirt and damage covering every surface imaginable. That being said, the lack of a giant hole in the side probably did make this the nicer place to live if one ignored the corpse laying on the ground.

Before she left, Mona decided to grab one of the chair legs that broke off when she bashed the corpse across the head. Given how helpful the last one had been, taking this with her seemed like a good way to conserve her ammunition going forward.

As she made her way into the stairwell to go down a floor, the smell of burning began to fill her nose. Never a good sign. Reaching the door leading to the second floor, she could see small wisps of black smoke coming from underneath it.

Considering whatever other ways down were blocked off and she wasn't too keen on taking a leap of faith, Mona had no choice but to go through. Thankfully, it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, this floor just as dingy and rundown as the other with the addition of several trash fires burning around the area. This wasn't good, of course, but given what fire usually signified in this place, she'd take it.

She began the process of searching once more, finding the majority of doors to be, shockingly, locked. One of them did open, nothing of value to be found in the cabinets or under the bed (not that there was an under after the springs and such had collapsed) save for a strange red key like you'd see used in a cheap movie to unlock a jail cell. The huge amount of nothing happening after nearly being shot just minutes ago was starting to get unnerving, whatever that meant.

As she left the room, Mona could swear she heard something over the sound of crackling flames and the creak of floorboards. Almost like someone crying. Someone young. Despite the building not being particularly large, it was hard to get a read on where it might be coming from, sounding equally near and far depending on where she stood.

It seemed like a trap. She'd only encountered one other person in this entire town so far so the chances that a real child was stuck somewhere didn't seem that high. Still, she couldn't just ignore it. She felt like a fool for even thinking it but she just didn't have it in her to abandon someone in need.

Mona couldn't decide whether it would be better if the voice did turn out to belong to a monster. On the one hand, she'd be fighting for her life, but on the other, it meant that she was the only one who had to suffer in this place. No one deserved to go through this, especially not a child.

Given that none of the other doors on this floor opened, not even the one that she strongly suspected was occupied by someone or something muttering to itself, her only choice was to go down another floor. As she began her descent, the crying did sound like it was getting louder, causing her to feel cold for the first time since she got to Silent Hill. Not simply a chill or nervousness, but genuine cold.

Stopping right in front of the worn wooden door, she tried to keep her breathing measured, realizing only now that she'd begun to hyperventilate like she was in a panic. She told herself that this would be just like the other floors. Maybe there would be something to fight here, but it wouldn't be any different. She'd make it through soon enough.

Hand closing around the doorknob, that was when she noticed the words etched into the door at eye level. "Welcome Home" it spelled out, the sense of dread permeating the air growing as thick as the fog outside.

She really didn't want to go through it, but she had no choice. She knew this already. She knew it before she even made it down this far. And yet her hand refused to turn, her legs refused to walk. She was frozen in place, heart racing as she read the words over and over again.

Her mind returned to the other set of words she'd seen throughout her journey, the message reminding her that it was her fault. Her fault that it had happened. Her fault she was here now. Her fault, her fault, her fault.

Whether it was a moment of clarity or mania, Mona finally found the strength to push through the door and arrive at the first floor. It was completely unlike the others, namely for the fact that it was a simple, dark box of a place with no rooms, no windows, and nothing but the hexagonal carpet and wallpaper in matching shades of red, orange, and brown to see. Nothing, that is, save for the man standing in the center underneath a single flickering light bulb.

It was him. It was unmistakably him. It couldn't be him, but here he was. Why was this happening? How was this happening? Why couldn't she just be allowed to forget in peace? She'd done so well in forgetting up until now, the memories refusing to surface no matter what the town threw at her. Now, though, it looked like it was done playing games.

Mona backed away, body shaking and hands tightening around the chair leg. She shook her head, refusing to believe what she saw right before her eyes. As much as she wanted to run from here, to run from the truth, that plan was rendered impossible the moment her back met smooth wall. It seemed as if the door had disappeared entirely, though she didn't turn to confirm it.

He stood unmoving, watching with what seemed like glee at her reactions. Lips twisted into a smile, broad salt and pepper mustache obscuring his top row of teeth as it always did. "Welcome home," he said sweetly.

What Mona felt now, however, was about as far from welcomed as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Collecting weapons is a good strategy for getting through this place. I wonder if that key will mean anything later.
> 
> Thanks for reading. Share if you're enjoying. Always remember that things eventually catch up to you.


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